These issues may seem more widespread than they are as friends and co-workers recount the same incidents over and over. But based on Smith’s figures, the risk is 1 in 1,250 installations for having a registered complaint, or the same as a 25-year-old woman giving birth to a child with Down’s syndrome. In other words, smart meter installation problems are rare.

Judi wrote:

Why would you compare a “Widespread Problems” with a baby with Down Syndrome as if that is a problem. I understand you were trying to say how rare it is but I think your choice was awful. Usually your column is very interesting as with this until the end. You owe beautiful Down Syndrome children an apology.

Perhaps some background would offer a different interpretation. In my first draft of the story, I'd calculated the odds at about 1 in 600 of having a complaint with one’s smart meter installation. This is about the same as a fan catching a ball at a major league baseball game so that’s what I wrote. In the story’s second draft, I realized my math was wrong and it was really 1 in 1250 of having a complaint. So I googled to find what else has odds of 1 in 1250. Far and away the most commonly cited statistic was of a 25 year old woman having a baby with Down syndrome. So I changed the text from catching a ball at an MLB game to having a a baby with Down syndrome. In other words, the comparison was formulated to give a feel for the rarity of the event and not a judgment on the desirability of the event.

Caption info: Tiffany Goodwini, of Fredericksburg, Va., catches a foul ball at a 2011 Richmond Flying Squirrels game while holding her eight-month-old son, Jerry. Photo by Mark Gormus/Richmond Times-Dispatch [No point is being made with the photo, other than the story mentioned catching balls at baseball games and I like the image of this multitasking mom.]

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Fact Checker columns by Mark Robison are rated on a scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being absolutely true with no gray area, 5 being down the middle with good points by both sides, 1 being false with no gray area and 0 being intentionally, maliciously or foolishly false.

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